Oregon strippers seek new regulations for better working conditions

Strippers in Oregon are employing two lobbyists to push in the state legislature for mandatory health and safety standards, among other improved conditions, in an industry that is largely staffed by exotic dancers working as independent contractors.

Oregon’s heightened free speech
protections -- stronger than those which are granted in the
First Amendment – have helped strip clubs proliferate around the
state, and especially in its largest city, Portland. These rights
have also made it more difficult to ensure particular rights for
exotic dancers because of the way in which they work.

Strippers are usually contractors without the benefits and legal
rights granted to employees. They frequently pay a stage fee or
give a percentage of their earnings to club management,
bartenders, DJs, and other staff. Additionally, many strippers
are young or inexperienced in the world, of work, according to
rights advocates. Cumulatively, these conditions can translate to
club owners making demands of them that are not in line with
their non-employee status.

However, across the US, dancers have rallied to unionize,
sue for labor violations, and offer basic
support to colleagues in the industry.

Organized by their local chapter of the National Association of
Social Workers, dancers in Oregon are calling for stronger health
and safety regulations, including clean and
structurally-dependable stages, decent club security, posters
that list strippers’ rights, and a hotline – staffed by people
who understand the industry – to report any abuses.

"The hardest part about being a stripper is battling the
stigma that we are victims that need help from outsiders,"
Elle Stanger, a Portland stripper active in the effort, told the
Associated Press. "It doesn’t matter if you work in
education, clergy, any kind of blue collar work — the people who
do the work know what the work environment needs."

Although she is pleased with the environment at her club, Lucky
Devil Lounge, Stanger said that after five years in the business,
she has seen some clubs with substandard conditions that must be
addressed.

"Some of the buildings are literally dilapidated and not
maintained," Stanger said. "You have entertainers that
could injure themselves from broken glass on the stage, poor
wiring with the sound system. We just want to get these
workplaces up to a minimum safety standard at least."

Claude DaCorsi, club owner and president of the Oregon chapter of
the Association of Club Executives, said that while there are
some club operators that flout basic protections, most are
conscientious and offer a safe working environment.

"We’re here to protect and make safe environments for
entertainers," DaCorsi said. "They’re the reason we
exist."

DaCorsi told AP that while listing dancers’ rights in the club is
likely not a problem, he’s worried that club operators may have
to pay for a hotline.

"How did it get to this point where entertainers got fed up
to the point where they felt we need to enact a law or do some
legislation around this?"

Hired by National Association of Social Workers, two contract
lobbyists will advocate for better standards in Salem, the
state’s capital.

"Social workers have always fought for people who want to
fight for themselves," said Delmar Stone, director of the
Oregon and Idaho chapter of the association. "We’re in
solidarity with them in achieving human rights, basic
protections, not being exploited."

Dancers also want to make sure strippers are not required to get
licenses and can work easily as independent contractors, which
offers anonymity and more work flexibility.

Yet the lobbyists say achieving mandatory protections
specifically for strip clubs may be a tough sell. Their efforts
at better conditions may have to encompass all “live
entertainment” venues given the state’s strong freedom of speech
protections that disallow stricter regulation.

From 1994 to 2000, state voters rejected three constitutional
amendments that would have increased the regulatory structure in
which strip clubs operated.